Waltrip Racing Controversy Puts Added Pressure On Bowyer

A piece of granite that depicts Clint Bowyer’s car and the two years he has won at Loudon is located near the tunnel at the International Speedway. Photo Ken Wells

By

Ken Wells, Express Publisher

LOUDON-With the final weeks of the NASCAR season in play, you don’t really need any distractions.
For Clint Bowyer it hasn’t worked out that way.
A suspicious spinout during the final race in Richmond paved the way for teammate Martin Truex to make the final 12 drivers for the Sprint Cup Championship.
The powers that be in NASCAR came down hard, knocking out Truex and heavily fining the Michael Waltrip team.
While Bowyer is saying little about the incident, there is still a Chase to run.
And Bowyer like where he sits, saying, “I think we are doing the things it takes to win a championship. We’re coming to the good part of the season for me.
“Most of my wins have come within these chase races at the end of the year. I feel confident we can get a win or two by the end of the season, and if we do that inside the Chase, I think we can make some noise for the championship like we did last year.”
It’s not like Bowyer has had an off year. He has led six races this year and won two of them.
He has eight top five finishes and 13 top ten finishes.
Bowyer stated, “We’re out there putting all our cards on the table and pushing as hard as we can to win. If we have the horsepower we know e can last to finish these races.”
Clint has to keep that focus, even with some NASCAR officials still not happy with the Richmond spinout.
NASCAR thought plenty was up as they docked Truex and Bowyer points causing Truex to be out of the Chase and Clint to be in the middle of the controversy.
Bowyer’s personality has shown though tough times.
He concludes, “Every time I race my confidence is through the roof. With me, you see it with my team, everybody. You come to the track and perform and it’s almost effortless.”
While Bowyer feels a championship can’t be won in one Chase event, it can be lost.
He explains, “I firmly believe that you don’t need to put too much emphasis on the start of the race Chase. Everybody’s so worried about getting off on the right foot and leading the pack. You need to sustain success over the whole fall.”
Bowyer finished 17th at Loudon after a ninth place finish in Chicago last week. With current leader Matt Kenseth making it two in a row, Clint Bowyer has to make things happen for himself now right now.
With eight races to go, he feels there is still time.